Monday, December 15, 2008

Spoilers for tonight's "How I Met Your Mother" coming up just as soon as I bang my fist against the table in memory of the Giants' 1997 playoff loss to the Vikings...

In the spirit of the holiday season, I'm tempted to just point out that Marshall karaoke'd "Let's Go to the Mall" and call it a day. Any episode with such an unexpected, hilarious, and completely plot-appropriate callback to the greatest "HIMYM" moment of all time -- not to mention a running gag (Canadians' alleged fear of the dark) that started off deliberately juvenile and then paid off brilliantly (turns out they are afraid of the dark) -- and assorted other Canadian references must be an all-timer, right?

Well, no. If the episode had been entirely about Marshall taking Robin into the bowels of Little Minnesota, it would be. Even if it had predominantly been about that with a little sprinkling of Barney's attempted seduction of Ted's sister -- renting a swivel chair was a distinctly Barney touch, I thought, and the dirty Christmas and Chanukah carols have forever ruined those songs for me(*) -- it would have been great.

(*) In much the same way, this scene from "The Naked Gun" has ruined the National Anthem for me, to the point where me and my friend Mike are incapable of attending a sporting event without slipping in Frank Drebin lyrics like "bunch of bombs in the air!" under our breath. Every now and then, somebody will notice and glare at us, but we can't help ourselves.

But I really, really didn't like most of the interaction between Ted and his sister, and the way that story had such a pat ending, and I felt like Lily's inability to keep a holiday secret was too broad by at least half.

But the Minnesota/Canada stuff was marvelous, and, dammit, Marshall sang "Let's Go To The Mall" and got the entire Hoser Hut to sing it along with him! What the hell: totally awesome!

I only caught the last half of the episode and so I caught most of the Minnesota stuff... so the last half was pretty funny for me. I think the problem with Ted's sister is that she is just as annoying as Ted.

Hoser Hut was hilarious, and although I don't know where the whole "Canadians are afraid of the dark" came from, I now realize that we were being tested during the Blackout of 2003.

Yeah, this wasn't really working for me. And I didn't find the end tag that funny--it was ok. Nice callback, but I wasn't busting out laughing.

I WAS laughing hysterically at the dirty christmas carols, which proves that Barney can say (and do) just about anything and it will make me laugh. He's that good (of a character and NPH as an actor). And Robin trying to fit in as part of the Vikings fans was kind of cute. But I didn't care about Ted's sister (and it's been well-established here that Ted's not a great character to focus a show around, despite the show title) and Lily's stuff wasn't funny AT ALL. I would've loved to find out that Ted's sister DID steal that briefcase after all. Otherwise...ho-hum.

Sorry, but with the exception of the last 2 episodes, Big Bang Theory has been consistently funnier than HIMYM (and was suprisingly sweet tonight). Which kind of bums me out. Still enjoy it, but I don't LOVE it like I used to.

a) Yelled "The one where he didn't make the field goal!" as soon as I saw the banner about the 1999 NFC Championship Game

b) Slammed my fist on the couch just before the first fist slam in reference to said game

c) Muttered "Gary...Gary something..." When Marshall asked who the kicker was - and I'm not even a hardcore Vikes fan!

Between this and the Thanksgiving ep with Marshall's fam (milk!), I must say that HIMYM really knows its Minnesota. And yes, I would have loved the entire ep to take place in the Walleye Saloon and the Hoser Hut.

I agree -- the funny parts were all the Minnesota/Canada stuff (and the true parts, like Robin commenting on how there were real men at the Walleye Saloon), and Barney's dirty Christmas carols, which were hilarious. And the awesome, awesome tag.

Rare pairings for the episode, though: Marshall and Robin, Ted and Lily...which worked for the former, not for the latter. In fact, it made Lily pretty cartoonish and Ted really pat. That kind of setup makes it clear what better actors Jason Segel, NPH, and Cobie are, in my opinion.

Is the sister an addition to the cast, or just a low level guest star? Because I hope never to see her again.

But every scene she wasn't in (Christmas Carols, Little Minnesota) wasn't bad.

And because people on this blog always extol it, I semi-regularly watch the Big Bang Theory before HIMYM, including the last several weeks. I still just don't get it. It's the most boring thing in the world.

All I have to say as a native Minnesotan, the writers hit everything spot-on about the Minnesota bar, from the fishing to the Vikings. The bang and groan reaction to any mention of that NFC Championship game rings so true to me. Hilarious episode!

Yeah, the sister subplot was Not Good. I did like her in one scene -- when they introduced her and she was crowd surfing.

But the highlight was the tag, of course. Also made me think of Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Segel up on stage with a keyboard. As someone else said, Marshall and Robin is a rare pairing so it was fun to watch them really hit it out of the park.

For years I thought that the Vikings were perpetual failures but as I get older I realize that they *are* failure. That is to say, if failure were a God they would be it's avatar. It is who they are, who they always will be and who they must be.

Therefore, if Viking fans make fun of you or your country that's a compliment. It's the law of inverse suckitute.

Can we declare a moratorium on the "Prince is the only black guy in Minnesota" joke...it seems like I've heard that line dozens of times since Chris Rock first said it in his HBO stand-up show years ago.

Of course Rock's bit even back then was funnier because he also threw in Kirby Puckett.

I'm technically from South Dakota, and not much of a football fan, but yes, that game really was that big of a deal. Gary Anderson had a flawless regular season, and then missed the field goal. People were sad.

And when they asked Robin where she was from, I thought "She should say she's from Bemidji" also known as Brrr-mijdi, which is right up by Canada.

When Ted said that he wanted to get to know his sister for who she really was, I quite nearly yelled "Me too, stupid Ted" at the TV. We only got Ted's perspective for the entire storyline, except for a bit of Lily, which was highly illogical. Not seeing her job interview robbed us of any chance to get to know her, and I fully expected us to learn that she hadn't changed at all at the end...before Ted co-signed the lease and decided everything was okay. If she's sticking around New York, we had to actually meet her and not just be told about her or see her through Ted's eyes (especially TED of all people, not the show's best character to revolve a story around).

As a Canadian, loved the elevation of the pastiche-driven image of Canada within the show to the level of simulation with the Hoser Hut - I was wondering what Canadian song they could have Marshall sing that would be funny to an American audience and yet iconically Canadian (they pulled out the Crash Test Dummies in the initial scene). When they pulled out "Let's Go To the Mall," it was a perfect reminder that this show is capable of comedy that no other show could based on its own commitment to constructing ideas like a wacky, dark fearing Canada.

The sister storyline was definitely weak. But I'm also surprised they didn't attempt to stunt cast the role (like Wayne Brady as Barney's brother.) Maybe they tried and people kept passing because the script was so incredibly weak. Even so, since Ted's sister is ostensibly living in New York now and there's the possibility of seeing her again in the future you'd think they'd at least cast a semi-memorable actress. But she was as big a charisma vaccuum as Josh Radnor. In which case maybe it was perfect casting. But it also makes me never want to see her again.

The apology scene in the bar was great, as it reminded me of a remark that one of my teachers once made: Canadians apologize to furniture when they bump into it, and they pronounce "sherbet" SHUR-BURT. (I've done both of those things, but now I try to pronounce "sherbet" as it is spelled.)

I thought the meta-end to this episode was great, but anyone who watched "The Big Bang Theory" before it got to see one of the funniest moments I've seen in a sitcom in years, which involved Sheldon's hilarious reaction to an unexpected gift from Penny. For those who DVR the show and haven't seen it, I recommend watching it NOW

As an Atlanta native, we've not had very many highlights in our 40+ years of professional sports. I was really disappointed that it was never mentioned who beat those Vikes in the 99 NFC Champ game. Of course, this being Atlanta sports, the Falcons imploded before and during the Super Bowl that year. Some things never change. *sigh*

I loved the bit with Barney's chair in the apartment "Don't touch the chair, it's rented".I also thought the Marshall/Robin story line was excellent. You never see those two interact too much so it was a nice alley to explore and showed off their acting talents very well, anyone else think that Cobie looked amazing in while telling Marshall's story at the Walleye Saloon?And finally, like you Alan, I couldn't get enough of the "Let's Go to the Mall" scene, I laughed so hard. Overall, I thought Little Minnesota was a great episode. And good catch to who ever noticed the Jerseys...I love that kind of stuff.

I really enjoyed this episode. Maybe it's because I only caught the last half so I missed a bunch of the Ted and his sister stuff or maybe it's because I'm Canadian. Robin's speech after she was ousted as a Canadian in the bar had me giggling, and all of the scenes in the Hoser Hut made me laugh uncontrollably. The "Let's Go to the Mall" ending was brilliant in it's execution. I do love me some Marshall and Robin.

Also, as I mentioned, I'm a Canadian and I say Sher-BET not shur-burt. ;)

This reminded me a little of first season I think where any story line not featuring Ted was head and shoulders above the Ted story line. Kept trying to picture the writing meeting where they said, "What sort of ridiculous stereotype about Canadians can we start? Let's see it's dark there for 3/4 of the year..." I really like Robin with Marshall or Barney, it reminds me why she's on the show. I feel bad for Lily she's been such a caricature for awhile now.

I concur with most of everything everybody has said here. Ted's sister-annoying and not funny. Minnesota bar - funny. Let's go to the mall - very funny. But in HIMYM's defense it's very difficult to follow the last 5 minutes of Big Bang. Sheldon's present reaction was so inexplicably and indescribably funny it took me at least until the first break of HIMYM to get over it.

Wow, I am apparently the only one who wasn't dying of laughter at the end of Big Bang Theory. Then again, I am an ugly nerd and uh...seen this happen plenty of times in real life, so I wasn't even a teentsy bit surprised at his reaction. I thoroughly expected him to go off and clone his own Nimoy the second he found out what it was. Meh.

Anyway, Little Minnesota bits were so good that ah, I forgot entirely there was a Ted subplot. Except for the dirty Christmas and Hanukkah songs, which were hysterical and I want them in mp3 now. I have thought for awhile now that Marshall/Robin have never been paired in an episode, and they needed to do it. And they did! And it worked! Yay!

"seen this happen plenty of times in real life" ??? - Is Leonard Nimoy in the habit of leaving dirty napkins everywhere he goes? And are people taking them and giving them as presents? I need to update my Christmas list I guess.

Mark me as another one who is pretty much thinking of HIMYM as "that show that comes on after Big Bang Theory" at this point. The casting of a BSG actor as the stud scientist cracked me up, and the Nimoy ending was one of the funniest things I've seen all year (especially Penny's insistence that the napkin was all she was giving Sheldon). HIMYM had the dirty Christmas carols and the spinning chair, and the Canadian bar was funny for a minute, but overall I thought it was a pretty weak episode.

I would be great if it was only a marshal+robin-hanging-out episode. the Ted`s sister plot sounded artificial and that`s the bad part of the episode (which was saddly 70% of it). I can't help but watch Robin scenes over and over the whole day =pRobin has been awesome this whole season. This is HER season!

This episode was annoying because I had a much better idea. They have mentioned Ted having a sister in past seasons and I got the impression she was either older or near the same age as Ted. I would have also made her deaf. This would explain why Ted knows sign language. It would have been kind of like the episode where the gang degenerates into their younger selves when they're around their old friends. Let the hilarity ensue.

I'm from NJ and I pronounce it "shur-burt." In fact, I don't think I've ever heard it pronounced as "sher-bet."

Thought this ep was OK - I'm not a huge Robin fan overall, but I do enjoy when they play up her Canadian side (and mock it). I don't think Lily was the problem in the Ted/Lily pairing - I think it was Ted. Lily on her own, Lily with Marshall and especially Lily with Barney is usually pretty funny. It all comes down to Ted sucking. Still, there was some pretty funny stuff and the last scene made it worth watching.

Oh and without any spoilers, I agree that Big Bang Theory was hilarious. Definitely funnier than HIMYM. I'm really loving Big Bang Theory. I just wish this season's eps were available on itunes, I'm all caught up on last season but missed a couple at the start of this season.

I liked the episode overall, but I thought Barney's songs crossed the line between cute and crass (especially given that he was singing about his friends sister). I had similar problems with Ted's sister's background: being flaky is one thing; stealing a $2000 television is another.

BBT is getting better - definitely more that something which kills time before (or after) HIMYM. Part it is that they have a solid cast, but the writers have also managed to get a better handle on the characters, dialing back on the extreme characterizations without making them boring.

Barney's songs were fantastic and I loved it then Marshall finally cracked and yelled "She's Canadian!" in the bar but otherwise this was not a great episode.

And as a Buffalo Bills fan, the whole "boo-hoo the Vikings missed a field goal once" thing was pathetic. My team missed a game ending field goal once too. It was in the Super Bowl. They lost and went on to lose 3 more consecutive Super Bowls and haven't been back to the playoffs in over a decade since. And they are now exporting some of our home games to Toronto. HOME GAMES... in CANADA! Thats not a joke. Oh, and our best player ever was... OJ! So suck on that Vikings fans and STFU!

alex - I think Barney's supposed to be crass though, he's got practically no boundaries- that's why I didn't like the whole pat, wholesome ending. Barney will make out with Ted's mom but not have sex with his sister? I don't buy it. Two things would have made this show much better. One that it turned out Barney and Ted's sister did actually have sex and B. if security would have been chasing Ted's sister when she cam out of the luggage store - that would've been great.

It's kind of a shame that they're handcuffed to Ted as the story-teller, because I'm sure they'd love to figure out some way to shift the focus from him. Like the way similar sitcoms have shifted who the focus was on. Like "Friends," which seemed to be nothing but Ross-Rachel for a few years, and then the writers fell in love with Matthew Perry for a long time until they had to switch back to Ross-Rachel for the series finale.

Of course, it's tough to phase Ted out very much since he's telling the story. To explain it away, they'd have to have some bizarre twist where it turns out the narrator was actually one of the other characters from the show (like Barney, who has been doing things a parent understandably might not want to admit to their kids that they'd done).

When did Lily become such a caricature? She can't be trusted not to ruin her husband's career when she's drunk, she can't keep a secret...I used to love her (and OK, I still do) but she's becoming way 2-dimensional.

I was expecting an "a-ha" at the end where it turns out Barney and Ted's sister really are sleeping with each other. Maybe they are and we'll find out in a later ep? But I hope not, the sister character is super boring in the worst kind of pretty-girl way.

The last moment was *brilliant* and I agree with you completely that the rest was meh. It was another one of those storylines just pointing out the smug, "already a dad"-ness of Ted. Even Barney couldn't save that storyline.

I am enjoying playing the "will they or won't they" game with the now TWO pregnant lead actresses. So far, they're hiding Lily in bigger and baggier clothes. I wonder how they'll deal with Allyson and Cobie's obvious changes in the New Year.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying this, but Alyson Hannigan is and always has been a horrible actress. I loved Buffy, but I always thought she was awful on that show and I don't think she's any better here. If you don't believe me, close your eyes for a moment and imagine Lily being played by Jenna Fischer. A HUGE improvement.

I like Alyson, and I generally like Lily, but I agree that she's a weak actress. I'm always surprised when people seem to hold her in such high esteem and group her with NPH has a high mark for the show. I feel like she's the weakest of the group by a considerable margin. Like I said, doesn't mean I dislike her, but I've never quite understood the love for her on the show. Even in the American Pie films, she was funnier because of the material.

I'm still a huge fan of Ted and can't see that changing any time soon. Yeah, I'll admit that he's definitely a douche (doosh, not doo-shay) at times, but he's a very recognizable person, and I think he's a very good way to bridge the Barney/Marshall gap. I doubt the writers are really looking to rid themselves of him. I also think Radnor can be really funny.

Maybe I just see too much of myself in Ted and I'm unwilling to step out and view him with any kind of objectivity (or partial objectivity).

Put me down as liking Ted. I actually think he makes the best narrator they could have -- I wouldn't want the show narrated by any of the other characters. I think Ted does a lot of dumb-dude stuff, but so do a lot of actual dumb dudes. He's never struck me as particularly off-putting, except in ways I think are intentional. I think Radnor is just fine; I just think he's up against a lot of people with more glamorous jobs than he has.

I can't believe nobody has commented on Barney totally breaking the bro code, AGAIN!!!! Not only did he lead everyone to believe he was doing "it" with ted's sister (which you may not count as breaking the rules, but I totally do), but he also revealed he kissed Ted's Mom?!? Not cool, dude. I spent most of the episode yelling at the DVR and being disgusted by his behavior. I like Barney but this was too much. On an aside, I am from FL, now live in TN, and I say "shurburt". That's the way everybody says it. I realize that is probably not the proper way, but when I hear it the other way, I immediately think of that person as a tool.

I really like Ted, too, and Josh Radnor. I don't think he's the most talented member of the cast, but he can be very affecting in the dramatic moments and he's got great deadpan. I loved his delivery of, "That's a bad neighborhood. You should get a deadbolt...if you want...to live."

When Robin started wearing the Vikings jersey and trying to fit in at Marshall's bar, I kept thinking to myself how funny I thought it was when it was Frasier over 10 years ago. So yeah, ditto on whoever mentioned that first.

If Ted's sister is supposed to be "poor", how the heck they she afford to buy Louis vuitton luggage???

Major plot hole.

Do you know if she bought it, or if someone else (like her parents, Clint, or an old boyfriend) bought it for her?

Do you know if the bag is real Louis Vuitton, or fake?

If you know she bought it, and you know it's real, how do you know she didn't buy it at a time when she had enough money to do so, or spent money that should've been spent on other things (like rent)? See, e.g., selling Ted's couch and TV for a plane ticket and NIN tickets?

You want to talk plot holes in HIMYM, they're there. That ain't one of 'em.